Side Notes 2/3-2/10

Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, released a statement on the use of deadly force and issued an update on the situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. As of Jan. 28, the FBI believes that four people are still occupying the refuge. Checkpoints were established around the refuge and the FBI encountered nine people leaving the refuge, arrested three and released six. Bretzing addressed the incident involving LaVoy Finicum when Oregon State Police officers used deadly force and Finicum was killed. Bretzing said, "The Deschutes County Major Incident team is conducting the outside review of the shooting per Oregon State law and established protocols." In the video, Finicum steps out of the truck and Bretzing says he reaches for the inside of his jacket twice. Finicum is then shot by OSP troopers and had a loaded semi-automatic 9-millimeter handgun in his pocket. Bretzing says the unedited video is available on the FBI's YouTube channel in the "interest of transparency."

Two freshmen were arrested at Oregon State University after the Oregon State Police conducted a drug investigation on the Corvallis campus. The Oregon State Police received information regarding illegal drug activity on campus. Gobind Singh Olleck and McIntyre Marcelo Santa Cruz, both 18, were arrested after a search warrant at Poling Hall was served. Both were arrested for manufacture of marijuana and conspiracy, possession of marijuana by a person under 21 years of age and delivery of Marijuana. According to the Oregon State Police, the half-pound of marijuana seized has a street value of $400. Both students are restricted from campus until further notice and the matter is fully investigated and concluded, according to an OSU employee.

A new report on minimum wage has been released by the Oregon Employment Department. In 2015, five percent of workers in Oregon earned minimum wage or less. Two pages of the report list workers who are exempt from state and federal minimum wage. State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks says taxi cab operators, students, outside sales workers and ski patrols are just some of the occupations that are "not subject to the state minimum wage and overtime requirements," according to the report. Since 1990, the lowest-paid workers' real wages have been stagnant.